“Roger Johnson, Marouane Chamakh and Abou Diaby” by Ronnie Macdonald is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The 2020-21 Premier League season has completed almost a third of its scheduled matches and the league table is starting to take shape. The busy Christmas fixture list usually sorts the wheat from the chaff but it is Liverpool who are the current favorites to secure back-to-back Premier League titles.
Latest betting odds at bet365 sports price Liverpool as the +175 favorites to retain the Premier League title. The injury-ravaged Reds occupy second place, trailing only Tottenham Hotspur on goal difference.
Injuries have decimated Jurgen Klopp’s talented squad. Liverpool are without England international defender Joe Gomez, Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, utility man James Milner, talismanic defender Virgil van Dijk, Thiago, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and first choice goalkeeper Alisson.
Liverpool has started the season solidly despite the injuries to key personnel. Seven victories from 11 games speak for themselves. Their only defeat was the freak 7-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa on October 4.
Goals Unusually Difficult to Come by For Man City
Manchester City are the +200 second-favorites despite languishing in seventh-place at the time of writing. City could climb to fourth-place if they win their game in hand. The usually free scoring blues have only found the back of the net 17 times this season. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers ave scored fewer goals from teams in the top half of the table.
Pep Guardiola’s team banged in 102 goals in 38 games last season so expect their relative goal drought to end soon, probably over the holidays period where City face several teams struggling for form or who find themselves towards the wrong end of the table.
London rivals Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are the joint third favorites with odds of +500. These are the only other two teams with futures odds lower than +2000
The Battle For Supremacy in London
“Leeds United” by Ungry Young Man is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Frank Lampard’s Chelsea endured a difficult start to the current campaign, picking up nine points from a possible 18 but a run of four wins in five games, including a convincing 3-1 victory over newly promoted Leeds United has propelled Chelsea into third-place, two points behind the leaders.
Chelsea has an extremely strong squad having strengthened it significantly during the summer and Lampard knows the club’s billionaire owner is prepared to splash the cash again during the January transfer window if further reinforcements are required.
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur find themselves in the envious position as league leaders, but bookmakers expect them to “do a Spurs” and fall away as the season progresses.
Spurs look much stronger than last season, partly due to the season-long loan signing of Gareth Bale. Strikers Harry Kane and Son Heung-min are in scintillating form too having combined for 11 of Spurs’ 23 Premier League goals this season. The dynamic duo have laid on 31 strikes for each other during their careers and are now only five goals behind the record set by former Chelsea greats Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard.
Which Teams Are Heading to the Championship?
It’s bad news at the other end of the table with three sides being odds on for relegation.
West Bromwich Albion (WBA) were only promoted this season but look destined for a return to the Championship at the first time of asking. WBA are -275 to be relegated after a dreadful start that has seen them pick up only six points from a possible 33.
Current basement side Sheffield United are without a victory this season having draw one and lost 10 of their 11 opening fixtures. Bet365 price The Blades at -250 to be one of the three sides to go down. Those odds are longer than WBA by virtue of them finishing ninth during the last campaign. They ended that season in terrible form losing their last three games, meaning they are now without a win in a competitive match since a shock 3-0 victory over Chelsea on July 11, 2020.
Fulham are the only other team odds on to be relegated with odds of -188. The Cottagers are one point outside the bottom three courtesy of two victories and a draw from their 11 games, but they have only kept one clean sheet this season, have a squad lacking in star quality, and look seriously out of their depth.